European Research AreaIndustrial Biotechnology

ERA-NET Industrial Biotechnology

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© ERA-IB, ERA-NET Industrial BiotechnologyApril 2009Reproduction is authorised provided thesource is acknowledged

MMoorree iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn aabboouutt EERRAA--IIBB iiss aavvaaiillaabbllee aattwww.era-ib.net

EEddiittoorriiaall bbooaarrddEdda Neuteboom, Susan Licumahua andJennifer Schuytvlot (NWO)

PPhhoottooggrraapphhssShutterstock, Project coordinators ERA-IB

PPrriinnttDigital4, Houten, The Netherlands

LLaayy oouuttWAT ontwerpers, Utrecht, The Netherlands

With great pleasure I present to youthis brochure that shows the outcomeof the successful 1st joint call forproposals of ERA-IB. With this 1st callpartners in ERA-IB joined forces tofund excellent cross-borderpartnerships between industrial andacademic industrial biotechnologyresearch. Together we were able tofund 8 project consortia, in which intotal 58 research groups participate.

The preparations for the joint callstarted in 2007. The partners of ERA-IBinvestigated the possibilities of hownational and regional fundingprogrammes and procedures could beintegrated in such a way that theycould be commonly executed. Inaddition ERA-IB invited stakeholdersfrom both the academic and industrysectors to discuss the topics thatshould be addressed in the 1st jointcall. As a result, in February 2008 ERA-IB launched Europe’s first jointlycoordinated, transnational call forproject proposals in IndustrialBiotechnology, entitled: ‘Industrialbiotechnology for Europe: anintegrated approach’.

The 8 granted projects presentthemselves in this brochure and duringthe ERA-IB kick-off meeting forgranted projects in Helsinki, Finland on28 April 2009.

I hope you enjoy reading about theERA-IB granted projects and that youwill stay connected to the futureactivities of ERA-IB.

Dr. Louis B.J. VertegaalCoordinator of ERA-IB

Director ACTS, NWO Divisions for

Chemistry & Physical Sciences

The Hague, April 2009

Foreword

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About ERA-IB

ERA-NET ‘Towards an ERA in IndustrialBiotechnology’ERA-IB (www.era-ib.net) is an ERA-NET funded from the EuropeanCommunity's sixth Framework programme. The objective of the ERA-NETscheme is to step up the cooperation and coordination of research anddevelopment activities carried out at national or regional level in theMember States and Associated States.

In the ERA-NET ‘Towards a ERA in Industrial Biotechnology’ 19 partners from13 different countries join forces to reduce fragmentation of nationalresearch efforts in the area of Industrial Biotechnology. ERA-IB started inMay 2006 and will run till April 2011.

ERA-IB’s objective is to foster economic and academic IndustrialBiotechnology players in sharing risks, costs and skills related to innovationin order to develop new knowledge, new products, technologies or supplyservices that could reach the market more efficiently. It is aimed atestablishing cross-border partnerships between industrial and academicIndustrial Biotechnology research, improving and accelerating technologytransfer, and strengthening European efforts to achieve sustainableindustrial development. These goals should be achieved by implementingcommon calls for trans-national R&D projects. Other activities of ERA-IBinclude a systematic exchange of information and best practices.

ERA-IB closely collaborates with the Industrial Biotechnology section of theEuropean Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry (ETP-SusChem)and the European Association for Bioindustries (EuropaBio).

Industrial BiotechnologyIndustrial Biotechnology is a key technology to realise the Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy and to transform life sciences knowledge into newsustainable, eco-efficient and competitive products and technologies.Increasing our understanding of physiological and regulatory processes in

cells and microorganisms will help to unlock the potential of biologicalsystems for contribution to numerous industry sectors including, amongstothers, the chemical, pharmaceutical, textile, paper and food industries.In order to take innovation to a level where there will be economic benefitthere are key technological challenges to be overcome by focused researchinvestment. In particular, knowledge transfer from fundamental researchinto technically realizable and cost-effective products and technologies is abottleneck.

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ERA-IB partners

Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, coordinator NWO The Netherlands

Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation MICINN Spain

French Environment and Energy Management Agency ADEME France

National Centre for Programme Management CNMP Romania

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia FCT Portugal

Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia MSES Croatia

Federal Ministry of Education and Research BMBF Germany

Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH FZJ Germany

Chief Scientist Office, Ministry of Health CSO-MOH Israel

Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport MOST Israel

Fundación Española de Ciencia y Tecnología FECyT Spain

Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation DASTI Denmark

Belgian Federal Science Policy Office BelSPO Belgium

University of York UoY United Kingdom

Agency for Renewable Resources FNR Germany

Saxon State Ministry for the Environment and Agriculture SMUL Freestate of Saxony/Germany

Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation Tekes Finland

National Centre for Research and Development NCBiR Poland

Technology Strategy Board TSB United Kingdom

ERA-IB observers

Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt DBU Germany

Research council of Norway RCN Norway

The Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems VINNOVA Sweden

Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology MHEST Slovenia

Italian Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry IT-SusChem Italy

ERA-IB launched Europe’s first jointly coordinated, transnational call forproject proposals in Industrial Biotechnology, entitled: "Industrialbiotechnology for Europe: an integrated approach" in February 2008. Withthis call ERA-IB aims at establishing cross-border partnerships betweenindustrial and academic industrial biotechnology research, improving andaccelerating technology transfer, and strengthening European efforts toachieve sustainable industrial development. Funding possibilities wereoffered to excellent innovative industrially relevant R&D and applied researchprojects. The call was open for researchers in Belgium, Denmark, Finland,France, Germany, Freestate of Saxony (Germany), Poland, Portugal, Spain andThe Netherlands. To enable researchers to form project consortia, ERA-IBorganised a partnering event on 5 March 2008 in Frankfurt, Germany.

On 31 March 2008 ERA-IB received 32 pre-proposals. After a selection by theERA-IB expert panel, 19 full proposals were received on 30 June 2008. Thesefull proposals were evaluated through peer review, resulting in 8 fundedprojects. The participating ERA-IB funding organisations allocated a total of9.7 Million € to the 8 projects. In all, 51 research groups in academia andindustry were funded, and an additional 7 partners participate with ownfunding. The projects will run at least 3 years.

Grants were awarded using a “virtual common pot” model. Through thismodel the call was jointly organised. There was a central call secretariat andthe evaluation and selection processes were executed via commonly agreedprocedures. The funding follows national or regional rules and each fundingorganisation funds only the research consortium members from its owncountry or region.

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ERA-IB 1st joint call forproposals

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On 28 April 2009 ERA-IB organises a kick-off meeting for the grantedprojects in Helsinki, Finland. During the meeting all granted projects willpresent themselves, and the participants have the opportunity to meet ERA-IB and each other and thereby to enhance their network. On the 29April the participants have the opportunity to attend the satellite meeting:the SymBio – Industrial Biotechnology and BioRefine programmesNetworking Day, which is organised by the Finnish Funding Organisation forTechnology and Innovation Tekes.

An overview of the granted projects, listed in alphabetical order ofthe project acronym:

Title and acronym Project coordinator Participating countriesand regions

Bio-based procuction of chemical building blocks: Corynebac-terium glutamicum as a platform for new and efficient biopro-cesses (BioProChemBB)

Prof. Bernhard Eikmanns DE, ES, FR, NL, PT

Implementing an enzyme engineering technology platform forthe provision of tailor-made enzymes for biocatalytic synthesis(EngBiocat)

Dr. Marc Struhalla DE, DE-SX, DK , ES, FI,NL,

Enzyme production in optimized streptomyces (EPOS) Dr. Erik Vijgenboom and Dr. Gilles van Wezel

BE, ES, FR, NL

Novel enzyme tools for production of functional oleochemicalsfrom unsaturated lipids (ERA-NOEL)

Prof. Johanna Buchert DE, DK, FI, NL, PT

Integrated, multi-host approach for the improved microbialproduction of high quality therapeutic enzymes and proteins(IMAPPROT)

Prof. Antonio Villaverde AT, ES, FI, IT

Targeting population heterogeneity at microscale for robust fer-mentation processes (POPCORN)

Dr. Anna Eliasson Lantz BE, DK, NL

Production and upgrading of 2,3-butanediol from biomass(PUBB)

Dr. Ulf Pruesse BE, DE, ES, PL

Improvement of strength properties and reduction of emissionof volatile organic compounds by enzymatic modification oflignin containing biopolymers and composites (VOC reductionof lignin containing materials)

Prof. Christian Wilhelm BE, DE-SX, ES, FI, PL

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The title of the call was Industrial biotechnology for Europe:an integrated approach. Because ERA-IB wants to foster theintegration of different steps of the whole value chain, applicants needed tointegrate several of the below given topics of Industrial Biotechnology intothe proposal:• Novel enzymes and microorganisms for new and more efficientbioprocesses;

• Metabolic engineering for the improvement of industrial microorganisms;• Enzyme design combining rational and or evolutionary methods;• Development of multi-enzyme processes and modular enzymes;• Microbial stress under process conditions;• Development of new platform chemicals, including biomonomers;• Development of new and functionalised biopolymers;• Process analytical technologies for improved bioprocess understanding;• Scale-up of bioprocesses;• Innovative down-stream processing and biocatalyst recycling;• Biotechnological upgrading and valorisation of biorefinery byproducts.

Organisations participating in the first ERA-IB joint call for proposals:

• Belgium: Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BelSPO);• Denmark: Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (DASTI);• Finland: Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes);• France: French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME);• Germany: Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR);• Germany – Freestate of Saxony: Saxon State Ministry for the Environmentand Agriculture (SMUL);

• Poland: National Centre for Research and Development (NCBiR);• Portugal: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT);• Spain: Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN);• The Netherlands: Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO):Advanced Chemical Technologies for Sustainability (ACTS) and theNetherlands Genomics Institute (NGI).

Granted Projects

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Project coordinator1. Prof. Bernhard Eikmanns – University of Ulm – Germany

Project leaders2. Prof. Volker Wendisch – Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität

Münster - Germany3. Prof. Juan Francisco Martin and Dr. Carlos Barreiro – INBIOTEC:

Instituto de Biotecnologia de Léon – Spain4. Prof. Armel Guyonvarch – Universite Paris-Sud – France5. Dr. Marco Oldiges – Forschungszentrum Jülich – Germany6. Prof. Michael Bott - Forschungszentrum Jülich – Germany7. Prof. Helena Santos and Dr. Ana Neves – Universidade Nova de

Lisboa –Portugal

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Bio-based production of chemical buildingblocks: Corynebacterium glutamicum as aplatform for new and efficient bioprocesses

BioProChemBB

8. Prof. Jean-Louis Goergen – ENSAIA: Ecole Nationale d'Agronomie et desIndustries Alimentaires – France

9. Dr. Adrie Straathof – Delft University of Technology – The Netherlands

AbstractThe project aims at developing Corynebacterium glutamicum as a designerbug, serving as a robust platform organism for new and efficientbioprocesses, such as the production of chemical building blocks fromrenewable resources. In an iterative way, we will construct and analyze C.glutamicum strains producing different dicarboxylic acids and amino acids.Additionally, the producer strains will be engineered to tolerate dicarboxylicacid stress, a relevant factor for process design and downstream processingof large-scale production processes. Using the producer strains, we willdevelop, scale-up and implement robust fermentation processes withintegrated downstream processing solutions. The project has a highinnovative potential for industrial applications and we regard the potentialto improve the competitiveness of European companies as very high.

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Project coordinator1. Dr. Marc Struhalla – c-LEcta GmbH

Project leaders2. Dr. Olivier May – DSM Pharmaceutical Products – The Netherlands3. Mr. Russel Golson – BioSilta Oy – Finland4. Dr. Monika Bollok – Bioingenium s.l. – Spain5. Prof. John Woodley – Technical University of Denmark – Denmark6. Prof. Gerold Barth – Technische Universität Dresden – Germany7. Dr. Tomi Hillukkala – Oulu University – Finland8. Prof. Joseph López Santin – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona – Spain9. Prof. Hans-Jörg Hofmann – University Leipzig – Germany

Dr. Robert Günther – University Leipzig – Germany

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Implementing an Enzyme Engineering Technology Platform for the provision of tailor-made enzymes for biocatalytic

EngBiocat

AbstractBiocatalytic synthesis is nowadays used to produce a broad spectrum ofdifferent chemical products: From high-value chiral intermediates for thepharmaceutical industry, fine and specialty chemicals for the agro, cosmeticand food industry, to bulk chemicals like monomers for the synthesis ofbiopolymers (Lactic acid for example). For all these applications biocatalyticprocesses have to be competitive on an economic basis and theirdevelopment times need to fulfil the demands of the market.No matter whether isolated enzymes, whole-cell biotransformations orfermentation processes are used for the production of bio-chemicals, theseentire innovative biotechnological processes are based on technologieswhich need to provide defined enzymatic activities.Very often natural enzymes used for biocatalysis have a limited substrateacceptance which prohibits a broader use of these enzymes for industrialpurposes. In these cases enzyme engineering technologies which allow theuse of molecular biology methods for the optimization of enzyme propertieshave a huge economic potential. Within the joint research project “EngBiocat” the consortium partners aim to develop and implement a fullyintegrated enzyme engineering platform which can be used to rapidlyidentify new enzyme mutants which allow the biosynthesis of novelchemicals products with high industrial relevance. The consortium is madeup by three SMEs (c-LEcta, Biosilta, Bioingenium), one industry partner(DSM Pharmaceutical Products) and 5 academic institutions (TechnicalUniversity of Denmark, Prof. Woodley; Technical University of Dresden, Prof.Barth; University of Oulu, Dr. Hillukkala; Universitat Autònoma deBarcelona, Prof. López-Santín; University of Leipzig, Prof. Hofmann). Theconsortium is coordinated by the German biotechnology company c-LEcta.

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Project coordinator1. Dr. Erik Vijgeboom / Dr. Gilles van Wezel – Leiden University

– The Netherlands

Project leaders2. Dr. Ramon Santamaria – Universidad de Salamanca - Spain3. Dr. Sharief Barends – ProteoNic B.V. – The Netherlands4. Prof. Jozef Anné – Katholieke Universiteit Leuven - Belgium5. Dr. Jean-Luc Pernodet – Université Paris-Sud – France6. Dr. Philippe Mazodier – Institut Pasteur - France

AbstractThe exponentially growing demand for enzymes with the increasing humanpopulation, and the exponential growth of new economies sets new demandson modern biotechnology. These materials need to be provided in a sustaina-ble manner, with less dependency on non-renewable fossil resources.In industrial biotechnology the production of enzymes for sustainable andeco-efficient technologies in the textile-, paper-, consumer- and biofuelapplications is a key objective. New enzyme production platforms mustprovide more choice and open up previously untapped enzyme sources. Dueto their saprophytic nature streptomycetes contain a massive arsenal ofindustrial enzymes, including amylases, proteases, cellulases, xylanases andesterases. However, so far their use as industrial production platform isrelatively limited, due to their slow mycelial growth, inefficient nutrientutilization and the lack of advanced expression systems. Other efficientenzyme production hosts (e.g. E. coli, B. subtilis) are currently used in the

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Enzyme Production in Optimized Streptomyces

EPOS

industry and via a plug-bug approach several of the Streptomyces enzymescan be expressed heterologously in such systems. However, the majority ofthe proteins requires host-specific machinery for folding, modificationand/or secretion and can therefore not be produced in a bio-active form inother host systems. We will develop the industrially preferred enzymeproducer Streptomyces lividans for optimal production of industrialenzymes, using xylanase as the model system. Integrating the latest know-how, the project will tackle the suboptimal parts of the existing productionpathway, related to expression (transcription/translation), to secretion(machinery, signals), to the stability of the expressed protein, and to theorganism itself (morphological engineering). To reach these objectives aconsortium is set up consisting of academic institutions, located in fourcountries, with ample experience in industrial projects, and involving therelevant industry.The outcome of this project is a new production platform consisting of astrain/vector combination capable of industrial level protein production andsecretion. The Streptomyces production host has an optimal fermentationbehavior, extended production growth phase, enhanced protein productionand secretion capacity and strongly reduced protease activity. Thedeveloped expression vectors have the best available transcription,translation and secretion sequences.Strains, expression systems and combinations of the two will be presentedto the industry for exploitation after the project. Already existing formal andinformal contacts of the partners with interested industrial parties will pavethe way for this approach.

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Project coordinator1. Prof. Johanna Buchert – VTT Technical Research Centre - Finland

Project leaders2. Dr. Leo de Graaff – Wageningen University – The Netherlands3. Dr. Ulrich Fehrenbacher – Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der

angewandten Forschung e.V. – Germany4. Prof. Armando Silvestre – University of Aveiro – Portugal5. Dr. Jacob Nielsen – University of Aarhus - Denmark6. Dr. Kim Langfelder – AB Enzymes GmbH – Germany

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Novel enzyme tools for production offunctional oleochemicals from unsaturated lipids

ERA-NOEL

AbstractThe objective of the project is to develop enzyme-aided technologies for theupgrading of low cost unsaturated fatty acids to functional oleochemicals tobe used as coatings, adhesives, lubricants, plasticizers and natural plastics.A multidisciplinary approach is taken in the project by combiningbiotechnical expertise to chemical engineering and polymer technology. Inaddition, new advanced analytical methodologies will be implemented inthe project for analyzing the characteristics of the chemicals produced.

The specific objectives of the project are to discover and produce novelenzymes being able to modify unsaturated fatty acids to reactiveintermediates and to further convert these enzymatically obtainedintermediates to oleochemicals. Finally the technical and economicalfeasibility of the developed oleochemical processes and products will beevaluated. The development of new, modern, environmentally friendlytechnologies to utilize abundant sources of lipids in novel productapplications has very high business potential. The project will significantlyenlarge the raw material base of the European oleochemical industry.

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Project coordinator1. Prof. Antonio Villaverde – Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona - Spain

Project leaders2. Dr. Monika Bollok – Bioingenium – Spain3. Dr. Simo Schwartz – Vall d’Hebron University Hospital – Spain4. Dr. Saloheimo Markku – VTT Technical Research Centre – Finland5. Ms Lisa Tutino – University of Naples Federico II – Italy6. Prof. Diethard Mattanovich – University of Natural Resources and Applied

Life Sciences –Austria

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Integrated, multi-host approach for theimproved microbial production of highquality therapeutic enzymes and proteins

IMAPPROT

AbstractMany enzymes and other proteins of pharmacological interest and addressedto human therapy are presently produced by cultured mammalian cellsthrough expensive procedures, resulting in high-priced products. The choiceof mammalian cells instead of simpler microbial systems is often promptedby the occurrence of structural properties (disulfide bridge, properconformation, glycosylation etc) linked to the requested biological activity,that cannot be fully reproduced in microbial cells. However, theincorporation of new hosts for therapeutic protein production and the fast-moving advances in protein and metabolic engineering, strain and processdesign and physiological analysis of stress responses make the production ofcomplex therapeutic proteins in microbial hosts a more feasible andeconomically competitive industrial biotechnology concept.

The objective of this proposal is to obtain functional therapeutic proteins bymicrobial production, and to create scientific data with wide applicability todiverse protein production problems in industrial biotechnology. The projectwill combine modular protein engineering approaches with metabolic andprocess engineering to obtain functional enzymes through microbialproduction processes, and will comparatively analyze the suitability ofalternative microbial hosts, either conventional or novel, regarding thebiological properties of a target therapeutic protein, the human alfa-galactosidase A.

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Project coordinator1. Dr. Anna Eliasson Lantz – Technical University of Denmark - Denmark

Project leaders 2. Prof. Søren Sørensen – University of Copenhagen – Denmark3. Prof. Jan-Dirk van Elsas – University of Groningen – The Netherlands4. Dr. Ingmar Nopens – Ghent University – Belgium5. Mr. Peter Jensen – Fermenco ApS – Denmark

AbstractThe overall objective of the proposed project is to establish a platform formore robust fermentation processes and production organism byunderstanding and controlling heterogeneity. It is essential to optimisefermentation parameters for achieving the most efficient productionprocess. In most research projects on this topic, the microorganismpopulation was considered homogeneous. However, research has shownthat a typical population of microorganisms in a fermentation isheterogeneous. Due to continued technological developments in differentfields, for example in genetics and molecular biology (reporter systems),flow cytometry and microfluidics (micro-bioreactors), we have now finallyreached a phase where the investigation of the effect of cultivationparameters on the heterogeneity of a microorganism population has becomepossible, and this is precisely what will be done in this project. The centralproject hypothesis is that there exists an optimum level of heterogeneityleading to a robust fermentation process with sustained high productivity.To investigate this hypothesis, reporter systems for cell growth and

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Targeting population heterogeneityat microscale for robust fermentation processes

POPCORN

productivity will be constructed for industrially relevant model organisms,which will allow to obtain a distribution of these properties for thepopulation, e.g. by using flow cytometry. The effect of cultivationparameters on these properties will be investigated via. Both physiologicaladaptation to the signals it perceives in the culture, and genetic changeallowing selection of optimally adapted forms to conditions in the culturewill be researched. Experimental results at microscale will be extrapolated tolabscale and pilotscale. This extrapolation will be supported by developmentof mathematical models, combining computational fluid dynamics withpopulation balance models. In addition to methods for determining thelevel of heterogeneity both, other outcomes will be: knowledge to obtainmore robust strains for biological production, which are more stress tolerantin a production setting; advanced micro-bioreactors and models able tosimulate population behavior in large-scale fermenters.

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Project coordinator1. Dr. Ulf Pruesse – Johann Heinrich von Thunen Institute - Germany

Project leaders2. Prof. Wlodzimierz Grajek – Pozan University of Life Sciences - Poland3. Dr. Antonia Rojas – Calantia Biotech – Spain4. Prof. Victoria Santos – Complutense University of Madrid5. Dr. Harald Häger – Evonik Degussa GmbH – Germany6. Dr. Heinz-Joachim Belt – Solvay S.A. – Belgium7. Dr. Wolfgang Wach – Südzucker AG – Germany8. Prof. Siegmund Lang – Technical University Braunschweig – Germany9. Prof. Marianna Turkiewicz – Technical University of Lodz – Poland10. Dr. Bodo Saake – Johann Heinrich von Thunen-Insitute - Germany

AbstractThe project objective is the development of an efficient fermentationprocess to produce the platform chemical 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) fromvarious low-cost renewable feedstocks and its further upgrading. 2,3-butanediol is a valuable chemical useful as antifreeze agent and as rawmaterials for the production of pesticides, pharmaceuticals, plasticizers,fragrances, moistening agents etc. It can be further converted to 1,3-butadiene (1,3-BD), a multi million ton bulk chemical, mainly used for theproduction of synthetic rubber, several polyamides and other polymers aswell as to methyl ethyl ketone useful as solvent or fuel additive. 2,3-BD can be produced from sugars or glycerol by different bacteria, mainlyclass 2 microorganism such as K. oxytoca or K. pneumoniae. Although the

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Production and Upgrading of 2,3-Butanediol from Biomass

PUBB

biosynthesis of 2,3-BD is well understood, its fermentative production is notcarried out on commercial scale, yet, due to low process economics. Theproject aspires to establish a commercially attractive fermentation processby overcoming the current drawbacks such as the need of class 2microorganisms, the low productivity and inefficient product isolation.More specifically, different low-cost biomasses (optimized hydrolysates fromwood, sugar beets or peels, raw glycerol) shall serve as substrates. New 2,3-BD producing class 1 microorganisms will be screened and optimized bymutagenesis and genetic/metabolic engineering with regard to productivityand tolerance for high substrate/product concentrations. Optimumfermentation conditions will be evaluated in lab-scale for differentsubstrates and strains considering both free and immobilised cells.Promising processes will be further scaled-up. Novel processes for theisolation/purification of 2,3-BD will be developed as well as for theconversion of 2,3-BD to 1,3-BD. In parallel to the whole project, process economics and life-cycleassessment will be carefully analyzed for the whole value chain and the maincost drivers will be identified in order to enable the development of the mostcost-efficient and sustainable overall process.

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Project coordinator1. Prof. Christian Wilhelm – Saxon Institute for Applied Biotechnology -

Germany

Project leaders 2. Dr. Maite Moreira - University of Santiago de Compostela – Spain3. Dr. Michel Penninckx – Université libre de Bruxelles – Belgium4. Dr. -ing. Wofgang Nendel – Chemnitz University of Technology – Germany5. Dr.-ing. Alexander Pfriem – Technische Universität Dresden – Germany6. Prof. Ewa Dobrowolska – Warsaw University of Life Sciences – Poland7. Dr. Tarja Tamminen – VTT Technical Research Centre – Finland8. Ms. Emilia Inonen-Kaufmann – Fraunhofer Institute für Chemische

Technologie (ICT) - Germany

AbstractThe project concerns the development of biopolymers from lignin materials.Bio-composite material of engineering grade from residual lignin wasdeveloped a few years ago. The material combines the physical properties ofsolid wood and plastics in the manufacture process. However, the highemission rate of volatile organic compounds (VOC) and unfavourable odourcharacteristics prevent the material from being used for several value addedproducts.The main sources for these emissions are low molecular parts of lignin andhemicellulose. The emissions contain monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes,phenols, aliphatic alcohols and aldehydes. It became obvious that the odour

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Improvement of strength properties and reduction of emission of volatile organic compounds by enzymatic modification of lignin containing biopolymers and composites

VOC reduction of lignin containing materials

characteristics of the material are very important for the application. The aimof the project is to develop enzyme complexes for the efficient degradation orpolymerisation of lignin- and hemicellulose-based compounds, which areresponsible for emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOC). For thispurpose, enzymes with a specific spectrum of hemicellulases or lignin-oxidising activities will be developed and produced. Incubation proceduresof lignin and lignocellulose fibres will be developed and optimised.Investigations on the mechanism of the enzymatic catalysed degradation andmodification of the lignin and lignocellulose fibres will be carried out. Injection moulding processes with modified materials and improved conditionswill be run and optimised. Using enzymatic incubated lignin and shortlignocellulosic fibres as raw materials, a fibre-reinforced biopolymercomposite with reduced emission and improved physical properties will bedeveloped from laboratory up to pilot scale. In addition to the development ofspecific enzyme complexes, the enzymatic modification mechanisms will beunderstood and used for the optimisation of the incubation process. New fibre-reinforced biopolymer with reduced VOC emission and improved physicalproperties will be used for the production of commercial composite products incooperation with industrial partners. The successful realisation of the project opens new value added applicationsfor the by-product residual lignin and lignocellulose fibres. The scientificresults will be used for patent application, published in scientific and technicaljournals, presented at scientific conferences and at international fairs and betaught at the participating universities. Several industrial partners fromdifferent industrial fields will be integrated in the project work.

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Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)C/o ACTS – Advanced Chemical Technologies for SustainabilityP.O. Box 932232509 AE The HagueThe Netherlands

CCoooorrddiinnaattoorrDr. Louis Vertegaal

SSeeccrreettaarriiaattSusan LicumahuaDr. Edda NeuteboomDr. Maarten de Zwart

Tel: +31 (0)70 3440615era-ib@nwo.nlwww.era-ib.net

Contact details of the ERA-IB managing office

Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) C/o ACTS – Advanced Chemical Technologies for SustainabilityP.O. Box 932232509 AE The HagueThe Netherlands

Tel: +31 (0)70 344 06 15era-ib@nwo.nlwww.era-ib.net

European Research AreaIndustrial Biotechnology